NSC meeting called for tomorrow

ISLAMABAD: An in-camera meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security has been convened on July 5 (Tuesday).

The letter in this regard has been sent by the National Assembly Secretariat to the members of the parliamentary National Security Committee. The parliamentary committee will be briefed on the current national security situation. The leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, senior parliamentary leaders of both the houses, federal ministers, senior political leaders, provincial chief ministers, president and prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan were specially invited to attend the committee meeting.

The meeting will be attended by senior members of the National Assembly and Senate, members of NA and Senate standing committees on Defence, Ministry of Defence, Foreign Affairs, Interior, Kashmir Affairs, Health, Federal Secretariat of National Security Division.Meanwhile, former prime minister Imran Khan, who is also the chairman of his party, has not been invited for the significant meeting of the National Security Committee to be held here in the National Assembly Hall tomorrow (Tuesday).

Imran Khan isn’t a member of the committee and he hasn’t accepted the position of parliamentary leader of his party. The in-camera meeting would take up important issues concerning national security with particular reference to the Afghan situation and affairs related to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

In the absence of NA Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf, who will be away from the country, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will chair the meeting and it will be attended by the services chiefs and heads of other relevant agencies.

Special security arrangements will be in place out and inside of the Parliament on the occasion. In all, 140 members of the two houses have been invited to the meeting, including members of the security committee. The NA through a resolution last month had already permitted to use the premises for the meeting.

The sources said that the members of the august body would be briefed by the high-ranking military officials and agencies concerned about the negotiations with the TTP, its outcome and their activities in the bordering areas with Afghanistan. Future course of action would also come up for discussion in this regard.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who is also the Chairman of the PPP, asked for taking the Parliament into confidence while dealing with the TTP and concluding any agreement with the outfit. The security issues in and around the country would also come up for discussion. The sources pointed out that the briefing will also have a question and answer session.